Magnificat (a.k.a. Visitation)

[MamaGeek]

For Christmas last year, my Mom hired the very talented Andy Pieper (a good friend of mine) to sculpt me a set of miniatures for a Visitation Scene from Luke, Chapter 1 of the Bible.  

Andy's Sculpting WIP thread is here.

 

In this scene, Mary, just having conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit, visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant in her old age.  When Mary arrives, Elizabeth says, "“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy."  And then Mary sings her Magnificat:

 

"My soul exalts the Lord,

And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

For He has had regard for the humble state of His handmaid;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name.

And His mercy is upon generation after generation

Toward those who fear Him.

He has done mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

And has exalted those who were humble.

He has filled the hungry with good things;

And sent away the rich empty-handed.

He has given help to Israel His servant,

In remembrance of His mercy,

55 As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever.â€

 

This diorama is meant to represent that moment, as Mary twirls and sings for joy in the yard of her cousin's home.

 

These are the completed figures that Andy sculpted.  They are 54mm scale:

 

 

Andy was also kind enough to add a bonus figure, a chicken, which is running away as Mary twirls in the yard:

 

Andy's Sculpting WIP thread is here.

 

I started by purchasing a wooden plaque at Hobby Lobby, sanding the bevels, and installing rare earth magnets in the base, so it will stick to the inside of my wooden miniature carrying case.

 

 

I knew I wanted the wall of Elizabeth's home on the edge of the diorama, so I glued together a frame out of coffee stirrers and toothpicks.

 

 

I let that dry overnight, then used Milliput to build the basic shape around the frame, which I also left to dry overnight.

 

 

When I got out the miniatures to place them in the scene, I realized my wall was angled the wrong way, so I ripped it off the base and respositioned it.  Then I added another layer of Milliput over the shaped wall for sculpting the stones.   I also used some Milliput for a tiled floor, which peters out into the farm yard.  I'm going to put down something for dirt, but I'm letting the putty dry first.  

 

I created some palm-like leaves out of twist ties and parchment paper (I will probably do an article on the technique sometime, if there's interest), and pushed them into a piece of cork, which I wrapped with green stuff for a planter.  I plan to fill in the top with sand.

 

Here are two photos of what's done so far, with the miniatures in their places, though of course not glued down (and Elizabeth won't be flying in the air like that!).

 

 

 

I'm thinking of making some larger palms hanging over the edge of the wall, though I'm not sure how I'd attach them, and I kind of want to see how the little ones look once they're painted.  If they're not convincing, I won't bother with larger ones.

 

The wall is pretty well stuck on now, with the floor and everything, but the rest could be repositioned, if necessary, so any feedback on placement is appreciated.  I also have a little Milliput left that I could slap on somewhere to touch up the sculpt if necessary.  (I used up almost an entire pack!)  I'd like to keep some for future projects, but I want this one to be top-notch, so I'm willing to part with it.

 

Really, any feedback at all is welcome and appreciated.  Thank you!

 

And, once again, Andy's Sculpting WIP thread is here.

Edited August 2, 2014 by MamaGeek

[joshuaslater]

looks incredible!!  

[Kharsin]

I'm excited to see this one! I loved the WIP on the sculpt, and can't wait to see the finished product! 

[kay13]

Wow, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with them!

[Dontfear]

This is going to be beautiful.  A tip about miliput: if you go over it with a soft wet tooth brush after shaping your stones in it and allowing it to set most but not all the way, it will polish out the burs from running your sculpting tool in it.  This is one of the advantages of miliput over greenstuff.  It saves some clean up later, I'm assuming you will sand them which is also effective but its a little more work I think.

 

I like how you are setting the scene.  One little niggle I have is that the chicken running away into nothing draws the eye away from the scene and there is nothing to draw the eye back in.  you could have the chicken running towards the viewer or into some back stop that will point the eye back to the scene.

 

Just my thoughts. I know you will do a great job with this regardless.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Dontfear

[MamaGeek]

What do you suggest for a backstop?

[Dontfear]

you could do some vegetation or something lying on the ground, a broom or a piece of wood, a board or something straight that you could point in towards that awesome wall you have.  Maybe the start of a raised bed garden, it would be a chance to do a raw stone retaining wall to throw some variety in and add another intermediary height level to the scene.  Just something to box the characters in a bit draw in a tighter focus.  Alternately, you could do it with paint by emphasizing the figures and de-emphasizing the rest of the vignette of course then all your lovely work gets lost as just background and that would be a shame.   I don't have a great answer for you.  Its much easier to notice a potential problem than it is to fix it.  

[AnneO'Leary]

This is going to be a moving piece. The sculpts are lovely and I know your brush will do them justice. To add small elements to the scene how would you feel about adding some small clay jugs. They could sit up against the outside wall. Simply to add a touch of the domestic to the scene.

[ShadowRaven]

very nice M.G. What a wonderful (and often overlooked) part of the bible to do something with.

[MamaGeek]

Thanks for all the thoughtful feedback! I thought about adding some pottery. I'll have to try sculpting some and see how they turn out. If they're good, it might make a nice addition. And if they're stinky, I'll leave them out!

 

I don't want the yard to look messy, so a stray broom on the ground wouldn't work. I can move the chicken, though, if that spot doesn't look right. Maybe running from Elizabeth to Mary?

 

Anyway, I took my dremel to the edges of the wall to sand them straight. Then I cut away some of the bricks so their individuality is more apparent, and also to avoid the implication that the edge was the actual end of the wall, not just the edge of the scene. My husband thinks it looks bombed out now, so maybe I went too far?

 

For the dirt, I used a mix of watered-down craft glue, flour, and sand. I put sand in the planter, and primed and base coated the foliage. I thought they turned out well enough, so I made a couple large ones that can hang over the wall. I'll paint them and see how they look before gluing them on.

 

Then I stained the base, which looks horrible. I must have gotten putty and/or glue on the wood in a few places, because the stain went on really blotchy. It's also just really soft cheap wood. I'll paint over it later.

 

Edited August 4, 2014 by MamaGeek

[MamaGeek]

very nice M.G. What a wonderful (and often overlooked) part of the bible to do something with.

It's actually not very overlooked by us Catholics, but yeah, I don't see it getting much emphasis in Christian culture at large.

[Dontfear]

Actually, I think I would keep the chicken where it is and just face it like it was making a run for the door.  Like in your original idea that it was startled by Mary's sudden twirl and shout but startled back towards Elizabeth.  That would draw you from Mary to Elizabeth and back following Elizabeth's gaze.  Also has the benefit of involving very little extra work :P.  I like the wall, the sanding helped a lot.  I see what your husband means about being bombed out but I think its only on the top of the left side of the wall where it looks somewhat broken.  you could just smooth the edges to make it look more like a frame than broken bricks.  

[MamaGeek]

Thanks, Donfear, I like both of those ideas!  I had the chicken running that direction, because I figured, "why would a chicken run towards a house, instead of further out into the yard?"  But, duh, it's a stupid chicken.  Who cares? 

 

How do y'all like my plant?  Does it work?  It's a whole new idea of mine.  I've never made anything like it before.  Is anyone interested in a plant-making tutorial?

Edited August 4, 2014 by MamaGeek

[Dontfear]

I love the plant.  I love making fun little things from paper.  butterflies, flowers, leaves (if you don't need too many), I've never tried whole plants but yours look great so maybe someday........

 

Definitely show us how you did it!

[MamaGeek]

I got a migraine last night, so I laid in bed or on the couch from the moment I got home from work. I managed to read a little, but that's it. Hopefully I'll make some progress tonight! (I am enjoying my book, at least!)